No. 1 Northwest Christian (11-1) vs. No. 5 Valley Christian (9-3)

North Canyon High School, 6 p.m.

 

     Northwest Christian leads the head-to-head series 10-9 including a 33-10 victory over Valley Christian on Sept. 21. The Crusaders won championships in 1996, 2010 and 2012 and came away with runner-up finishes in 1996, 2002, 2011, 2015 and the Trojans brought home state championships in 2005 and 2009 and runner-up finishes in 1996, 2004 and 2006.

     Northwest Christian beat No. 9 Benjamin Franklin 35-7 in the quarterfinal round. Junior QB Johnathan Metzger threw for 93 yards with a touchdown. Metzger also ran in a short TD. Sr. RB Aren Van Hofwegen 112 yards on 23 carries an he caught two passes for 53 yards including a 44-yard TD strike from Metzger. Metzger has 1,177 passing yards this year with 21 TDs and Van Hofwegen kas 1,333 rushing yards with 15 TDs. Defensively, Sr. DB Dustin Inness leads the Crusaders with 75 tackles and 7 interceptions. Sr. DL Derek Henderson has 10 sacks.

     Valley Christian beat No. 4 Page 28-20 in the quarterfinals. Sr. QB Peyton Hanzal threw for 274 yards with two TDs in the victory. Sr. Matt McCreight caught six passes for 84 yards with a TD and Jr. Vinnie LaGatta caught three passes for 65 yards and another TD. Sr RB Nathan Dykstra rushed for 67 yards and a TD and JR. Tanner Canfield rushed for 49 yards and another TD. Hanzal has 2,040 passing yards this year with 21 TDs and McCreight has 801 yards receiving with 12 TDs.

     Hanzal threw for 229 yards in the loss to Northwest Christian but Van Hofwegen rushed for 126 yards with two TDs to lead the Crusaders to victory.

 

No. 2 Yuma Catholic (10-2) vs. No. 6 Sabino (10-2)

Shadow Mountain High School, 6 p.m.

 

     This is the first meeting between the schools. Yuma Catholic won state championships in 2011, 2013 and 2014 and picked up runner-up finishes in 2010. Sabino collected state titles in 1990, 1992 and 1998 and runner-up finishes in 1997, 2005, 2006, 2009 and 2016.

      Yuma Catholic beat No. 10 Safford 65-28 in the quarterfinals. Jr. QB Gage Reese threw for 384 yards with five TDs. Jr. RB Ean Chavez rushed for 126 with three TDs, Sr. John Henderson caught six passes for 250 yards and three TDs, Sr. Isaac Torres and So. Jonah Leon caught the other two TD passes. Reese has 4,259 passing yards this year with 59 TDs, Chavez has 1,063 rushing yards with 18 TDs, Henderson has 1,941 receiving yards with 26 TDs and Chavez has 971 receiving yards with 12 more TDs. Henderson also has seven interceptions on the year

     Sabino beat No. 3 Snowflake 3-014 in the quarterfinals. So. QB AJ Skaggs threw for 235 yards and a TD, Sr. RB Jamel Brown rushed for 94 yards with a TD, Sr. Jimmy Hamilton caught six passes for 82 yards and a TD and Jr. Jayson Petty caught eight passes for 78 yards and another TD. For the year, Skaggs has 1,558 passing yards with 18 TDs and Hamilton and Petty have combined for 1,086 yards receiving with 15 TDs. Sr. Richie Pina has 128 tackles and Petty has 10 sacks.

     The Sabercats have never played Northwest Christian or Valley Christian but Yuma Catholic beat Northwest Christian 36-30 this year and lost to Valley Christian 35-28.